This is not because they are orphans, but because their refusal to submit to the cultural practices of female circumcision has all but ostracised them from their community in Eastern Uganda's Kapchorwa District.

Ms Chelangat and Ms Chebichira say their parents, relatives and the community have for the last 10 years been trying to force them to under go Female Genital Mutilation so they could be regarded as mature women in society.

The two have, however, done their best to escape the harsh knife.

"When we made 14 years respectively, that mandated us to be circumcised. We started escaping to our relatives in Kenya during holidays," Ms Chelangat says as she breaks down into tears.

"Even our parents were not protective at all. They wanted to fulfill their cultural obligation of having circumcised daughters."

She says the two have not been able to visit their home areas during circumcision period since 1998.

FGM involves partial or total removal of the female genitalia. The most common type of female genital mutilation is elimination of the clitoris. According to the World Health Organisation, the immediate and long-term health consequences of female genital mutilation vary according to the type and severity of the procedure performed.